Rainy Days And Mondays by The Carpenters

I grew up on Mercer Island, which is a suburb of Seattle. When I tell people this, one of the first people comments people say is “it rains a lot in Seattle, you must like the rain.” arrgh.

There’s a couple things that irritate me about this statement, first off Seattle doesn’t even make the top ten list of rainiest cities. And really, even if Seattle was the rainiest city how does that mean that people from Seattle like the rain?

Who really loves the rain? It’s raining right now in Chicago not with the sprinkle of summer rain but the torrential “walk outside for 5 seconds to walk the dog and come in and need a complete change of clothes” kind of rain.

Most of us tolerate rain because we know we need it and it makes us appreciate the sunshine all that much more. Rain is the valley that makes the peak that much more amazing, but knowing this doesn’t mean you like being in the valley, it just means that you’ve figured out a way to look on the bright side of something that is innately depressing like rain.

Combine the grossness of rain with having a “case of the Mondays” and really could it get much worse?



I’m sitting here, it’s raining, it’s Monday, perfect time to listen to “Rainy Days & Mondays.” When you are in a bad mood and you listen to a song that is about being sad, it doesn’t make the bad mood go away, it just makes you feel better knowing that you aren’t alone in your feelings. However listening to Karen Carpenter, instead of feeling better about my bad mood, I'm realize I'm not feeling that bad.

Talking to myself and feeling old
Sometimes I'd like to quit
Nothing ever seems to fit
--------
What I've got they used to call the blues
Nothing is really wrong
Feeling like I don't belong

“Rainy Days & Mondays” is one of the best descriptions of the feeling of depression in popular music. It’s wanting to give up, not because something is wrong but because you feel you don’t have a place. We’ve all had these times in our lives where we’ve felt this way and gotten through them but listening to this song you can’t help but wonder if Karen Carpenter ever did herself.

Karen Carpenter died of heart failure at age 32 of heart failure because of weakened heart muscles due to anorexia nervosa. In 1983, the year she died, the public knew little about eating disorders and Karen’s death raised awareness of anorexia nervosa and bulimia. I don’t know if Karen was singing about her own depression in her music or it was just part of her skills as a singer. Either way you can’t help but wonder.

I know that The Carpenters could not sound more adult contemporary but behind the squeaky-clean image was one the greatest voices in popular music. Her voice is like Kate Hudson in Almost Famous. There’s a scene when her character Penny Lane finds out that she has been lost in a bet for $50 and a case of beer (3:30 in).



There’s a smile and a swagger on the outside but a pain on the inside that even when is hidden is in everything action. Optimism almost makes us forget the pain when shaking off tears looking into the sunlight, but the darkness haunts is never forgotten.

Listening to Karen Carpenter makes me cry. I don’t know why. She always gets to me and more than sad the Carpenter's music somehow makes me feel at peace. I just noticed that the sun has broken through the clouds and the rain has stopped. Rainy days and Mondays can’t last forever and it’s comforting to know that not only for myself but for Karen Carpenter.

Look like Buffy noticed that the sun came out too, well, I guess it’s time for a walk. C’mon girly, let’s go explore.

Take On Me by A-Ha

I listen to “Take On Me” every single day on the way to work, or at least the first couple seconds.

My wife and I listen to our iPods in the car and every day we update our playlists and podcasts. When we unplug our iPods from the computer the iPods resets and instead of starting from the last thing we were listening to it starts playing songs in by artist. So when we press play in our car it starts with A-Ha and plays “Take On Me.”

At least half the time, I’m not really thinking about what I want to listen to and I let my iPod play “Take On Me” and when I realize that I’m listening to “Take On Me” again, I grumble but once the chorus hits, I can’t help but smile.

My first exposure to “Take On Me” was the amazing music video. The rotoscope animation technique in which live action film is projected and each frame is traced over with pencil created a magical world bringing a comic book to life in a way that simply blew my mind.

a-ha - New Music - More Music Videos

The blend of live action and animation is reminiscent of the Mary Poppins with the girl in the diner being invited into the comic book. There is pure magic as she explores the world and the camera circles around a mirror with live action on one side and rotoscope animation on the other. A chase ensues, she makes it back to the real world and in the end the guy comes out of the comic banging against the walls shaking off his animated self in one of the most unforgettable moments in music videos.

Is “Take On Me” really about a comic book come to life experience? Not really, but what the music video captures is the sense of wonder and magic that comes from looking into eyes of someone you love. That’s really all this song is about.

Often in music, male protagonists are boastful and self-assured but in “Take On Me” the main character is shy and sweet. Here is a guy who sees a girl that he likes, doesn’t have any lines and is shy himself but is willing to push past this because as he states in the second verse, “it’s no better to be safe than sorry.”

Even more than the lyrics of this song, what sticks out in many people’s minds is Morten Harket’s lead vocals. The chorus of this song starts low and gets high, really high. From the bottom note to the top note Harket covers the range of two and a half octaves. “The Star-Spangled Banner,” which is often criticized for its difficulty to sing, only covers the range of an octave and a half. In case you had any doubts that this was a legit performance and produced with studio magic, check out this impromptu live performance they did in 2005.



Steve Perry of Journey ain’t got nothing on this guy. Harket’s heartfelt performance makes the angular coldness of the frenetic synthesized backgrounds seem at peace. They seem right, it’s hard to imagine this song any other way. Maybe it’s nostalgia. I grew up listening to this song any it reminds me of a simpler time but Diana didn’t. She’s never watched the music video in its entirety but she loves this song as well.

Great music transcends its genre. “Take On Me” is the perfect example of 1980s New Wave music, a cleaned-up synthesized reaction to punk music of the 1970s. If you strip away what characterizes “Take On Me” as New Wave you are left with a great pop song with honest lyrics and a simple but catchy chorus, that is hilarious fun is singalong with.

“Take On Me” is about seeing a possibility, hoping for the best and taking a chance. When you think about it, "Take On Me" really is the perfect song to start the day with.

Bogoróditse Dévo by Sergei Rachmaninoff

Freedom to worship, freedoms of speech, freedom of the press, freedom to assemble.

As American these are the freedoms promised by the Constitution of the United States. When we think of our right as individuals, these freedoms come to mind. There are many other freedoms we enjoy including the freedom to experience art. We can choose what television shows we want to watch and what music we want to experience. There are many societies in which, what we call “basic” freedoms are but a dream. And in Communist U.S.S.R. many freedoms were taken away including not only the freedom to create art but also the freedom to experience it.

Rachmaninoff composed “Bogoroditse Devo” as part of his setting of the Russian Orthodox All-Night Vigil ceremony for a capella choir. He composed this work in 1915 partly to benefit the Russian war effort. The Moscow Synodal Choir premiered this piece and it was performed five more times within a month because of its popularity with critics and audiences. With the rise of the Soviet Union, a ban was put on all religious music from the Marxist idea of religion being “the opiate of the masses.” The Synodal Choir was replaced by the nonreligious “People’s Choir Academy” marking the end of an era of Russian music.

With the fall of communism in Russia, people were finally allowed to worship in the open and embrace the culture that had been taken away. When “Bogoroditse Devo” was finally performed again, it was received as a long lost relative forcefully taken away. People in the audience wept as they were finally free to not only experience this music but to connect to their inner spirituality reminding them of all that was lost.

“Bogorodiste Devo” has almost medieval quality to it that captures the mysticism of the Russian Orthodox religion. It combines modern harmonic progressions with a variety of different textures. In the beginning, all the parts are singing the same rhythm (known in musical terms as “homophony”). This musical technique makes the voices feel as one unit with the deliberate and careful motion of a monastic chant.

The middle section of the piece that builds into the climax features the different choral parts singing different melodies (polyphony). Rachmaninoff creates a sense of motion as the alto lines meander while the other voices sing slowly rising sustained notes. The polyphony builds to a euphoric climax gently relaxes down until all the voices come back together in the last couple measures moving with homophony into quiet reflection.

One of the many pieces of advice Diana and I got when planning our wedding was to make sure we take a moment in the ceremony to take it all in. There is so much going on during the day it’s easy to forget to just stop and enjoy the day. So we decided to plan this moment during the ceremony and the unity candle lighting seemed like the perfect time for us to reflect on the service.

Well, things didn’t go exactly as planned. We didn’t bring a candle to the ceremony so we “borrowed” one from the church (or another ceremony that was going on, I’m not sure). The ceremony starts, we get to the candle lighting, the choir starts singing “Bogoroditse Devo,” and then we can’t get the candle lit. I think what you’re suppose to do for a wedding ceremony is have a smaller candle lit on the side and light the bigger candle.

We didn’t think of that so all we had a lighter, one of those 8 inches long deals that is suppose to light when you squeeze the trigger. Yeah it didn’t light after the first 5 tries. I was about to enlist the help of the groomsmen when the lighter decided to work. It was one of those things that you just got to laugh at and regardless it was beautiful moment.

Music has a way of taking us to different places, making the world dissolve away. Even though “Bogoroditse Devo” is less then three minutes it takes us on an incredible journey, from the smallest feeling of wonder to the incredible glory of spirituality.

“Buffy? Why would you name your dog that?!?”

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BTVS) is one of the greatest television shows ever. Time included BTVS in their "100 Best TV Shows of All Time feature. Entertainment Weekly ranked this show number 10 on its list of top 100 television shows from 1983 to 2008 and TV Guide two BTVS episodes on its list of top 100 episodes of all time at #14 and #78.

To people who have never watched BTVS, it's is a campy show for teenage girls that features painful 1990s fashion, laughable bad special effects, and ridiculous plot lines. In reality, BTVS features an amazing ensemble cast, incredible writing and some of the most powerful stories about the human condition you will ever see on television. BTVS is a seamless amalgamation of almost every television genre including: drama, horror, soap-operas, comedies, suspense, mystery, science-fiction and even musicals.

Honestly though, the critical merits of the BTVS had nothing to do with why we named our dog after this show. If that was our plan our dog would be name Casablanca.

While we were planning on getting Buffy one of the questions I asked people was how they came up with their dog’s name. Some people name their dogs after someone they know. Others have a nonsensical name that they enjoy like Weebles or Bitsy. However, most people I talked to named their dog after something in their lives they were a fan of.

Before you conclude that it’s “geeky” to name our dog after a television show like BTVS or conclude that we are “dorky” for even enjoying the show, think about this. There are Cubs fans who can name every player on the team, who watch every single game, read about the team in the newspaper and spend time debating with their friends results and future predictions. Is that really all that different then being able to name the titles to all of the episodes of a show, know the names of the actors and writers, watch episodes, read analysis of episodes and debate the merits of different plot points?

Being fascinated and passionately engrossed in something like sports, music, television, books, is an beautiful thing. It connects us to people around us who share our passion and enriches our lives through meaningful experiences that define who we are. The only difference between being passionate about the Cubs and Star Trek is that for some irrational reason our society considers one “cool” and the other one “geely.” There is nothing innately “cooler” about sports, so let’s get our heads out of middle school.

Embrace what you love and embrace what your friends love. It’s a beautiful thing to hear about people talking about what they love and it’s a horrible feeling to have something that is very meaningful be degraded as not being “cool.”

BTVS is my wife and I’s favorite television show of all time, but there’s more to naming our dog Buffy than advertising to the world that we enjoy this show.

When I hear the name Buffy, I think of the my friend Jen, who harassed me for years to give BTVS a chance. I think of my favorite podcast Comic Geek Speak, that did an episode about BTVS that finally convinced me to give the show a chance, but most of all I think what it means to share my life with my wife, Diana.

I remember having to convince Diana to watch the first episode and watching her skepticism melt away into excitement. There were moments in the seven seasons like that made us cry, laugh and rejoice. I remember finishing the final episode and seeing the smile on Diana’s face and reveling in the fact that she loved the show so much that the next day she began re-watching the show. In some ways, Diana loves this show even more than I do and it warms my heart knowing that I was able to introduce her to something that has brought her so much joy.

We knew that getting a puppy would not be my thing or Diana’s thing, it would be something that we would share in our lives. So it only made sense that the name Buffy, a name that instantly reminds us of the meaning that comes from sharing my life with Diana would be the perfect name for our new puppy.

Anyways, someone has to stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. It might as well be the dog.

Mad World by Tears for Fears/Michael Andrews & Gary Jules/Adam Lambert

1982-Tears for Fears, a British New Wave band releases “Mad World” as their third single becoming their first hit on the United Kingdom singles chart.

"Mad World" by Tears for Fears music video

2003-Michael Andrews and Gary Jules covers “Mad World” for the Donnie Darko soundtrack reaching number one on the British charts.

2009-Adam Lambert sings “Mad World” as one of one of the finalists on American Idol.

It’s amazing to think that after twenty-one years after its original release “Mad World” would become a hit and even more mind-boggling that “Mad World” would help propel an American Idol contestants to become the runner-up and one of most popular American Idols contestants.

“Mad World” by Tears for Fears on initial listening is an unremarkable song. Its synthesized New Wave instrumentation instantly make the song sound dated. The driving tempo and pulsing drums sounds like s a dance club song, however if you listen past the “blips and bloops” and focus on the lyrics an emotional rawness is revealed.

The lyrics of “Mad World” express a bleak world view. The song opens observing “familiar faces” that are “going nowhere.” In reaction to this the singers is crying wanting to “drown my sorrow.” The chorus bring us deeper into the thoughts of the protagonist contemplating how he feels about his own depression.

And I find it kind of funny, I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I’m dying are the best I ever had
I find it hard to tell you ‘cause I find it hard to take
When people run in circles, it’s a very, very . . . mad world.

The idea that people are running in circles without meaning feels like insanity to the singer. The contemplating of dying engenders a feeling of humor and sadness, which evokes a sense of madness in the main character. The singer rather die than live life aimlessly. It is kind of funny and kind of sad to conclude that death is the only way to make sense out of the insanity of life.

Some lyrics are ambiguous enough in their meaning that imagining different interpretations is no problem. Even though the words in “Mad World” don’t seem to leave a lot open for interpretation different performer have found different meaning in this song.

Tears for Fears with their faster tempo and synthesized sounds has paranoid feel. The jagged instrumental lines have a feeling of insanity. Here there is a man sitting in an apartment in a futuristic distopia frustrated, angry and scared not so much of the world but what his emotions are doing to himself.

Michael Andrews and Gary Jules interpretation of “Mad World” is similar to Johnny Cash’s cover of Nine Inch Nails’“Hurt.” The slower tempo and simpler background instruments expresses a feeling of solitude and quiet contemplation. Instead of anger, there is a feeling of letting go and giving up. It just doesn’t make sense. Shivering, tired and close to tears, he no longer has anything left.

Adam Lambert takes the arrangement of Andrews and Jules and adds the anger and bitterness from the Tears for Fears version. The purity of Lambert’s voice against the lyrics expresses a feeling of disappointment, an innocence lost. Here is a man in conflict struggling with the world around him near the point of giving up.

There is one more interpretation to consider that bring forth the soul of "Mad World." In 2006, in front of a choir and full orchestra, Curt Smith from Tears for Fears performed “Mad World.”



What instantly hits the ear is the sonic world that it revels to us that this song is not so much about the individual but the “mad world.”

Every interpretation is a different reaction to the same world. Within the constructs of the song there is universality in the meaning of this song, the idea that we all at some time see the world as being insane. These different performances remind us that we all react to the world in our own unique way. They challenges us to examine ourselves and questions whether what we find inside is kind of funny or kind of sad.

Wake Up by Arcade Fire

I love movie trailers.

I regularly check movie trailer websites, multiple times a day. I wouldn’t say that I’m addicted to them, but I just really get a kick out of them. At their best a movie trailer is piece of art all by itself. In the same way I remember hearing pieces of music for the first time, I remember watching certain movie trailers. I vividly remember watching the trailer for Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace and just being awestruck. The moment when Qui-Gon introduces Anakin to Obi-Wan and OMG, seriously that moment when Darth Maul opened up both sides of his lightsaber: awesome.



Honestly some movies aren’t very good but have trailers that rock. The trailer for Seven Years In Tibet is amazing. I’ve never watched this film, don’t really care to, but man what a trailer.



Some trailers capture everything that’s in the film. If you don’t have the time or patience to watch The Lord of the Rings, watch the super-trailer. Everything’s there in under seven minutes.



One thing that almost every good trailer that I’ve seen shares is great music. I’ve discovered many songs from film trailers. The first time I heard “Heart Of The Matter,” (which I’ve done a post about), was in the Sex And The City trailer.



I recently saw the new Harry Potter film, and it was preceded by a trailer for the film Where The Wild Things Are, based on the book. I was never a big fan of the book growing up but the combination of the music and the images was stunning.

"Where The Wild Things Are" Trailer

“Wake Up” by Arcade Fire is a beautiful mess of sonic energy. The chorus of the “ah” at the start of the song has a symphonic and epic energy. The sounds that are used, the rock band with strings is not a unique combination of the instruments but the arrangement of these ingredients has a fresh and unique sound. The primal drums and dirty vocals have a rawness that is both unusual and instantly relatable.

The title of the song “Wake Up” refers to a line in the first section in which the song calls for children to wake up and “hold your mistakes up, before they turn summer into dust.” The song also calls us to think about what it means to grow up and what we have to do make it through our lives: “We’re just a million little God’s ‘causing’ rain storm tuning every good thing to rust, I guess we’ll just have to adjust.”

“Wake Up” ends with a feeling of relief. “With my lighting bolts a glowing, I can see where I am going” expresses a sense of clarity. Lyrics don’t always have a literal meaning or even a symbolic meaning that can be explicated but they can still express a feeling and a meaning. There’s not a lot of words in “Wake Up” but the the context of the melodies adds power to each word that is sung.

Movie trailers don't guarantee anything about the film they advertise but at their best they condense the emotional core of the film down to a couple minutes. Is the expressive journey of Where The Wild Things Are going to be the same as "Wake Up"? I don't know, I hope it is and even if its not I'm sure that it's going to be an interesting journey.

If the film disappoints, I can live with that and I'll always be thankful to this film for introducing me to the world of Arcade Fire.

The Joys of "walking" Buffy

Buffy is cute. I mean c'mon she thinks her reflection in the mirror is another dog:



I’m not saying this to brag but nearly to state the simple fact that like many baby animals Buffy is pretty adorable. There is a biological imperative for baby animals to be cute because if they weren’t, we wouldn’t have the patience or motivation to take care of them. Everything Buffy does from her sneezes to her groans is cute except for those choice moments when she farts when I’m holding her.

Now if you’re walking a puppy (or in Buffy’s case, alternating from walking to carrying the puppy) in a place that has a lot of foot traffic people will take notice of your puppy. I don’t know what it is about puppies, but they engender an array of reactions from people.

More often than not, people are polite, they wait for Buffy to approach them and ask Diana or I to pet them. Whenever you see a dog the best thing to do is wait for the dog to approach you, it’s a lot less intimidating for a dog. As friendly as some dogs are, sometimes they don’t want to be pet by a certain person for some reason and its best to let them feel comfortable on their own terms.

Sometimes puppies just don't feel like saying hi:




Then there’s the whole asking to pet thing. I guess it’s not essential, if Buffy goes up to a person and starts licking their feet and the person pets her it’s fine. Most people when they do this try quickly look at Diana and I to make sure its ok and most of the time it is.

A puppy is like a baby. You would never touch or hold someone’s baby without asking so when people try to pet Buffy when she doesn’t approach them and she isn’t in the mood I get pretty annoyed. People who do this aren’t so much who don’t know better but rather people who claim to be “dog people,” who know SO much about dogs that they feel like they can treat a puppy on the street likes its their own dog. I put “dog people” in quotes because people who do this really are not people who get dogs and respect dog owners. I like to think that I’m really good with kids. Through being a teacher and studying the adolescent mind I have a great understanding of them but that doesn’t mean I can see some cute kid on the street and start hugging them or strike up a conversation without the parent’s approval.

The scariest moment was when a lady who claimed “to love dogs” and be a “dog person” picked up Buffy without asking. First off, this lady could have just stolen Buffy and the other thing is that in this lady’s arms, it’s a lot harder for me to protect Buffy from a traumatic experience. Puppies need to have consistent positive interactions with all kinds of people in order for a puppy to grow to up friendly and secure dog. For example, if a puppy doesn’t have positive interactions with men as a puppy he or she will likely grow up to be a dog who is fearful of men and be more likely to bite one. Like with human children it only takes one bad experiences to emotionally scar a puppy. If someone is petting Buffy in a bad way or approaches her in a way that scares her I can just pick her up and walk away but if someone picks her, it’s a different story. That lady was unbelievable and had REALLY long finger nails [shudder]. Thank God, she handed Buffy over when I asked and that Buffy didn’t seem to mind the experience.

The majority of people are the street are great about wanting to meet Buffy. Often times parents will be walking around with children and the kid will notice Buffy and want to pet her. All the parents I’ve encountered take this as a teachable moment, telling their children how them ask politely if they can pet Buffy and then will teach their children how and where to pet Buffy. It’s really cute to see how exciting this is for little kids.

The other day I was out with Buffy and approaching me was a nurse who was pushing a elderly man in a wheel chair. The man was non-verbal and had significant issues with his motor control. As I approached, the nurse got excited about Buffy. Buffy ran towards the man and so I picked her up so she could meet the nurse and the man. The nurse was great with Buffy and as she petted her, Buffy turned her attention to the man. I brought Buffy a little bit closer to the man and she proceeded to lick his hand. Even though the expression in the man’s face didn’t change you could see the excitement in his eyes. As we walked away, the nurse said thanked us and said that this was the highlight of the man’s week. I got to admit it, that was one of the highlights of my week as well.

And yes, Buffy is a “chick magnet.” Out of all the people who come up and want to meet Buffy, maybe 98% are woman. Once there was a woman almost got hit by a car running across the street to meet Buffy. I don’t totally understand it, I just got to remember that when they are swooning over the cute-ness of Buffy that they aren’t talking about me . . . or are they?